Up to regulation: Area fire stations do annual pump testing

All fire stations are required to do so by the state of Mississippi.

GOLDEN TRIANGLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Some area fire stations are doing their annual pump testing to make sure gear is up to standards.

Starkville fire stations tested pumps on 24 trucks throughout the week.

All fire stations are required to do so by the state of Mississippi.

Starkville Fire Coordinator Patrick Warner said pump tests ensure that old and new fire trucks are up to regulation.

“The biggest thing is that we check the pumps to make sure that they are working properly so that way when we are called and they are used nothing fails and everything is good to go,” Warner said.

Columbus Fire Chief Duanne Hughes said during the test trucks are revved up to different pressures.

State inspectors look to make sure the required water flow is at the right gallon per minute during inspections and that required documents are in order.

“When these pump tests are done, they are not done using fire hydrants because they are pressurized. The pump tests are usually done from a static or still water source,” Hughes said.

Hughes said inspections are helpful in catching problems before they happen.

“One of the great things about the annual pump testing is that if there are any situations where the truck is not performing up to standard. We can find them then and the pump test is going to reveal that it may be an issue where you have certain connectors that need to be tightened because they are allowing air to come in displacing the water which will result in the truck not performing in standard,” Hughes said.

If a truck is not up to standard, then departments must have a backup.

“What we will do is have a reserve truck. and this truck will be actually placed into service while we work to correct the issues of the car that is being pump tested. A lot of fire departments and volunteer stations have agreements where we will actually loan a car,” Hughes said.

Each pump test can last up to an hour.

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